The use of fire protection barriers such as blankets, tapes and/or rigid material of a variety of compositions are widely known and utilized. Exemplifying fire barriers of cloth which vary by composition and/or contemplated end use are the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,881,798; 4,101,700; 4,273,821; 4,282,284; 4,414,251; and 4,535,017. One or more of these prior patents have disclosed use of a flame resistant filler such as hydrous oxides, silicates and other hydrated substances which firmly bond the water and decompose with the heat of a fire. When exposed to fire they evolve large quantities of cooling, non-corrosive oxygen-displacing and fire protective water vapors. Disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,821 is a mastic coating applied to a sheet-like carrier which may be wound as a tape about electric power or control cables. The tape serves to restrict fire propagation and prevent self ignition of cables from fires due to overloading or other electrical faults. U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,493 discloses refractory coating compounds of aluminum oxide, calcium oxide, etc. which when applied to a base fabric are said to afford the fabric insulating capability that can be maintained for about 20 minutes at temperatures in the range of 1800.degree.-2000.degree. F.
While it has therefore been known to protect electrical cables and cable trays utilizing blankets of heat insulating material, such materials have in that environment proven to themselves to create a problem. That is, it will be recognized that such materials function to only prevent external sources of heat from reaching the electrical conduit while preventing the dissipation of heat from the interior of the conduit or cable. On the other hand, prior attempts to utilize trihydrated alumina as a fire protection barrier composition have included incorporating the trihydrated alumina in a binder or other relatively rigid form. As a result the material has lacked sufficient flexibility for wrapping around a conduit or cable already in place.
Recent pronouncements of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission relying on ASTM E-119 have required fire protection applied to electrical cable in nuclear power plants to preserve the cable in tact for at least 3 hours so as to enable suitable shut down of the facility before power interruption can occur.
Despite recognition of the foregoing, a ready solution therefor has not heretofore been known.